Furniture construction



July 16, 1963 oss 3,097,615

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 27, 196

United States Patent 3,097,615 FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Lon Ross, EastRockaway, N.Y., assignor to Maurice Duchin Creations, Inc., New York,N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 141,048 1Claim. (Cl. 108-155) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in articles of furniture such as bookcases, shelves,tables, stands and many other similar items which embody in theirconstruction a set of vertical legs or uprights and a horizontal top orone or more horizontal shelves which are supported by the uprights orlegs. More particularly, the invention concerns itself with furniture ofthis type wherein the top or shelves may be assembled with the uprightsor legs by the simple use of ordinary retaining means such as nuts, orthe like, and without requiring any skill or complicated factoryassembly procedures, so that items of furniture in accordance with theinvention may be compactly and inexpensively shipped in a knockeddownform and quickly and easily assembled by a pur chaser or user.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provideimproved means for connecting and securing a furniture top or shelf tothe uprights in a manner which permits knocked-down packing and shipmentof the parts as well as an expeditious do-it-yourself assembly withoutthe requirement for special tools or skill.

Another important object of the invention is to provide for asubstantial amount of rigidity in the connection between the top orshelf and the uprights, such a connection having a two-fold purposewherein the uprights support the shelf or top in a horizontal positionWhile the top or shelf prevents displacement of the uprights from thevertical.

Some of the advantages of the invention apart from those alreadymentioned reside in its simplicity of construction, aestheticappearance, durability, and in its adaptability to convenient andeconomical manufacture.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this specificationproceeds, the invention will be understood from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereinlike characters of reference are employed to designate like parts, andwherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a a portion of anarticle of furniture constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, takensubstantially in the plane of the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken substantiallyin the plane of the line 33 in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional detail, taken substantially in theplane of the line 44 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantiallyin the plane of the line 5-5 in FIG- URE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is -a fragmentary perspective view of the subject matter shownin FIGURES 2 and 3.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the generalreference numeral 10 designates an article of furniture which, forexample, maybe a bookcase, a table, a stand, a room divider, or thelike, the same including a pair of spaced uprights or legs 11 and a topor shelf 12, which is horizontally disposed. It will be understood thatthe member :12 may be the table top if the furniture item is a table ora stand, or it may be one of several shelves of a bookcase, or a shelfspaced below the top of a table, as is well known in the art.

The invention concerns itself primarily with the provision of means,designated generally by the numeral 13, for securing the member 12 tothe uprights 11 so that the uprights support the member '12 in ahorizontal position and :at the same time the member 12 serves toprevent displacement of the uprights from the vertical. It will be alsounderstood that the member 12 may be secured along its length to otheruprights spaced from the uprights 11, one of such other uprights beingindicated at 11a in FIG- URE 1. Since the connection means 13 betweenthe member 12 and the uprights in each pair is the same, a descriptionof one of the means '13 will sufiice for all.

Although the construction of the member 12 will be hereinafter detailed,for purposes of immediate explanation the member 112 may be regarded inthe form of a simple panel or shelf-like element, either solid or ofopen framework. As such, the member 12 is provided with a horizontal,transversely extending rod 14 which projects laterally beyond the sideedges of the member 12 and passes through transverse apertures 14 formedin the uprights 11. The end portions of the rod 14 are screwthreaded andsuitable nuts 15 are applied thereto at the outside of the uprights andin abutment with the latter. If only the arrangement so far describedwere employed for attaching the member 12 to the uprights 11, it isobvious that the member 12 could turn in a vertical plane about the axisof the rod 14 and that the uprights 11 could be displaced from thevertical, even if several of the members =12 were connected to theuprights and even if several sets of uprights were provided, since aparallelo gram folding action of the entire device would still bepossible. However, in order to prevent such action and to facilitatesupport of the horizontal member 12 by the uprights 11 as well as tosafeguard against displacement of the uprights from the vertical, theconnecting means 13 also include a second rod 16 which is parallel toand spaced downwardly from the rod 14 and is provided with furtherdownwardly offset end portions which constitute a pair of keeperelements 17. Intermediate portions of the rods 14, 16 are rigidlyconnected together by disc-like spacers 18 which are welded or otherwisesecured to and disposed bet-ween the two rods, and the free end portionsof the keeper elements '17 are inserted in blind sockets 19 which areformed in the uprights 11 at points spaced downwardly from the apertures:14. As a result, relative movement of the member 12 and uprights 11about the axis of the rod 14 is eifectively prevented and the member 12may be quickly and easily assembled with the uprights 11 by simplypassing the end portions of the rod '14 through the apertures '14,inserting the keeper elements -17 into the sockets 19, and applying thenuts .15 to the ends of the rod 14, as will be apparent.

The extent to which the nuts 15 may be tightened on the ends of the rod14 so as to securely hold the parts assembled may be governed by eitheror both, abutment of the longitudinal side edges of the member 12 withthe inside of the uprights, and/or abutment of the free ends of thekeeper elements 17 with the blind inner ends of the sockets 19. For allpractical purposes the uprights 11 may be formed from solid stock,although hollow or tuibular material may be used, if so preferred.

As already noted, the member 12 may be in the form of a simple panel orshelf, although as shown in the drawings it is preferred to consist of apair of spaced longitudinals or rods 20 secured by welding or the liketo the underside of the rod 14, in which event the longitudinals 20constitute the side edges of the member 12 which abut the inside of theuprights 11, if so desired in place of or in addition to the abutmentafforded by the keeper elements 17 in the sockets 19. In any event, thelongituthe art to which the invention relates.

dina1s20 are connected together by cross bars or rods 21 'which arewelded or otherwise secured to the underside of the longitudinals, whilelongitudinal stringers 22 may be secured to and extend between the rods21, particularly in instances where the member 12 is to have an openframework construction. However, a flat panel 23 of suitable materialsuch as Masonite for example, or the like, may be removably positionedon the cross rods 21 between the longitudinals '20 so as to form acomponent of the shelf or top, the panel 23 being supported againstdownward displacement by the rods 21, against lateral displacement bythe longitudinals 20, and against endwise displacement =by the spacers18 of the connecting means 13.

Suitable caps 24 may be applied to the ends of the uprights 11, if sodesired.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferredembodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparentto those skilled in Accordingly, it is not desired to limit theinvention to this disclosure, and various modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the inventionas claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

In an article of furniture, the combination of a pair of spaceduprights, a horizontally elongated panel-like member, and meansconnecting said panel-like member to said uprights for support of thepanel-like member in a horizontal position by the uprights and forretaining the uprightsin a ventical position by the panel-like member,said connecting means comprising a first horizontal rod rigidly securedto and extending transversely of said panel-like member between saiduprights, end portions of said rod projecting through transverseapertures formed in the uprights, a second rod spaced vertically fromand parallel to said first rod, means rigidly securing intermediateportions of said first and second rods together, end portions of thesecond rod constituting a pair of rodshaped keeper elements disposed invertically spaced parallel relation to the respective end portions ofthe first rod, said uprights being provided at points spaced verticallyfrom said apertures with sockets receiving said rodshaped keeperelements, said sockets having blind inner ends in abutment with the endsof said keeper elements, longitudinal side edges of said panel-likemember abuting said uprights interio rly of the latter, and retainingelements provided on the end portions of said first rod exteriorly ofthe uprights to retain the parts assembled.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS967,600 Bernstein Aug. 16, 1910 1,426,328 Tiffany Aug. 15, 19221,460,928 Tilden July 3, 1923 1,766,085 Rurner June 24, 1930 2,521,596Molla Sept. 5, 1950 2,679,736 Duchin June 1, 1954 2,714,540 Diehrn Aug.2, 1955 2,799,401 Duchin July 16, 1957 2,829,934 Schulze Apr. 8, 19582,947,587 Navellier Aug. 2, 1960 2,992,442 Lehman et a1 July 18, 1961FOREIGN PATENTS 358,826 Germany Nov. 22, 1935

